How to talk to family and friends about Covid

I saw a post the other day, asking about how do we make family understand why we need to do Covid-19 restrictions, such as lockdowns, curfews and mask wearing.

And it resonated with me. Mainly because, I have someone dear to me who has perhaps the direct opposite ideas on Covid. They do not see why they have to wear a mask, they do not see why we are lockdown, and they do not see the severity of Covid.

And I struggle to deal with this. Mainly because, this is not a relationship I can leave on the wayside. This relationship is very dear to me. It is not something I can discard, nor do I want to.

So, the question still stands. How do I explain to someone with those views why we are doing this? Why we are in lockdown? Why masks need to be worn in a public space?

How do I explain to someone we are doing all this to keep others safe. That we are doing this because we care about other people.

It is a hard one.

Especially when someone is very deeply rooted in their own belief system.

Listen

Now. It may be hard to listen to someone else’s views that are the direct anthesis of yours. You may want to interrupt every second or so, and say, no way. You are wrong. How can you think like that????

But wait. Sometimes, to better understand where someone is coming through. You listen. This does not mean you agree with what they are saying, but you are allowing them to share their views with you.

I ended up in many a fight, where the person whose views I did not align with thought I was ignoring her, or I thought she was dumb. So, even though I did not agree, I listened.

It turns out she is coming from a place of fear with her views. And sometimes, fear makes us act in very interesting ways.

Share

Now that you have listened to them, perhaps now you can share where you are coming from.

The lockdown’s save lives. That masks do help in stopping transmission. That we are doing this, so we can all be here together afterwards.

Share from your heart.

Do not argue or debate on it

Do not engage with a debate or argument on this. If you can not rationally listen and share, walk away. Or simply say, I am not engaging with this right now with you.

Fighting over this topic is like trying to fill a bucket with water that has a hole in it. Pointless and frustrating. So it is best to simply move on and talk about the weather or something else neutral.

Just go about your own business

You can lead a camel to water, but you can not make them drink. You can go hoarse in the voice talking about why we need to do something, but if they do not want to listen to you or bring on your views, they won’t. And you just get worked up for no reason.

The best thing you can do in this situation, is to go about your own values and beliefs and not get to pulled into theirs.